Dust sealing mechanisms for hoppers or the like

ABSTRACT

A dust sealing mechanism for use in association with a receptacle for dust containing material and comprising a pair of relatively movable telescoped sleeves, one of said sleeves being adapted to be moved into sealing engagement with an outlet from which the material is fed to the receptacle, and the other of said sleeves being adapted to cooperate with an inlet in the receptacle, and means interconnecting the two sleeves for effecting opposite axial movement of the sleeves into their operative position whereby material can be fed through the sleeves into the receptacle comprising a rotatable ring having camming engagement with the respective sleeves.

United States Patent Murphy [54] DUST SEALING MECHANISMS FOR HOPPERS ORTHE LIKE Arthur Douglas Murphy, Bramhall, En-

gland [73] Assignee: Simon-Curves Limited, Cheshire, England [22] Filed:Aug. 7, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 62,149

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 804,966, Mar.6, 1969, abandoned.

[72] Inventor:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 14, 1968 Great Britain..l2,402/68 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,459,981 1/1949 warren s 5 /1 11 [451 Feb. 22, 1972 Primary Examiner-Dave W. ArolaAttorney-Norris & Bateman [57] ABSTRACT A dust sealing mechanism for usein association with a receptacle for dust containing material andcomprising a pair of relatively movable. telescoped sleeves, one of saidsleeves being adapted to be moved into sealing engagement with an outletfrom which the material is fed to the receptacle, and the other of saidsleeves being adapted to cooperate with an inlet in the receptacle, andmeans interconnecting the two sleeves for effecting opposite axialmovement of the sleeves into their operative position whereby materialcan be fed through the sleeves into the receptacle comprising arotatable ring having camming engagement with the respective sleeves.

12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDFEBZZ 1912 3 643 982 sum 1 0r 3INVENTOR ARTHUR DOUGLAS MURPHY PAIENIEBFEB22 i912 su'mznra mvmma RT Rmucus munpm Pmimzumzzmz SHEET 3 [1F 3 INVENTOR ARTHUR DOUGLAS MURPHY Bygin/1mm DUST SEALING MECHANISMS FOR HOPPERS OR THE LIKE This applicationis a continuation of application, Ser. No. 804,966, filed Mar. 6, 1969,now abandoned.

This invention relates to a dust-sealing mechanism for use inconjunction with the inlet opening of a hopper when the hopper is beingfilled from, for example, a bunker with a pulverulent material such ascoal and in which emission of dust takes place during the fillingoperation.

An object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement wherebysuch dust emission is obviated or mitigated.

According to the present invention there is provided a dustsealingmechanism for' use in association with a receptacle for dust containingmaterial comprising a pair of relatively movable sleeves, one of saidsleeves being adapted to be moved into sealing engagement with an outletfrom which the material is fed to the receptacle, and the other of saidsleeves being adapted to cooperate with an inlet in the receptacle, andmeans interconnecting the two sleeves for effecting movement of thesleeves into their operative position, whereby material can be fedthrough the sleeves into the receptacle. Preferably, the means foreffecting movement of the sleeves comprises a cam or cams on saidsleeves and a rotary ring which carries a plurality of rollers inengagement with said cams and said ring being rotatable in order toeffect relative movement of the two sleeves.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a hopper and bunker with a dust-sealingmechanism in accordance with the present invention disposedtherebetween;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the dust-sealing mechanism;

FIGS. 3, 4 and are respectively sectional views on the lines lll-lll,lV-IV and VV of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional diagrammatic detail view of thesleeves and cams, and ring and rollers.

Referring now to the drawings, a dust-sealing mechanism generallyindicated at S for effecting a dust seal between a wheeled travellinghopper 3 and a bunker 4 from which the hopper 3 is filled withpulverulent material, such as coal, comprises an inner cylindricalsleeve 5 having a sealing face 6 and an outer cylindrical sleeve 8within which the inner sleeve 5 can slide vertically. The inner sleeve 5is provided with a horizontal flange 7 at its upper end and on theunderside of the flange 7 there are fixed three equispaced cams 9. Theouter sleeve 8 is also provided with a horizontal flange 10 to theunderside of which are secured three equispaced cams ll.

Surrounding both the inner and outer sleeves 5 and 8 is a rotary ring 12which carries upper and lower rollers 13 and 14 which run on cams 9 and11 respectively. The ring 12 is supported on a flange track 15 throughthree equispaced wheels 16 secured to the ring 12, the track 15 beingintegral with the outer periphery of the mouth proper 17 of the hopper3. The ring 12 is provided with a segment 18 of a worm wheel and thissegment meshes with a worm 19 which can be driven either by a gearedmotor unit (not shown) or by hand in order to effect rotation of thering 12.

Secured to the inner periphery of the hopper mouth proper 17 is a peg 20which engages in a vertically slotted hole or groove 21 in the outersleeve 8. Similarly secured to the inner periphery of the outer sleeve 8and adjacent the horizontal flange 10 is a peg 22 which is engaged in avertically slotted hole or groove 23 in the inner sleeve 5. The pegs 20and 22 prevent the inner sleeve 5 and the outer sleeve 8 rotating withthe revolving ring 12.

The outer sleeve 8 is also provided at its lower end with an adjustableextension sleeve 24 provided with four vertically slotted holes 25equispaced therearound. Nuts and bolts are provided to secure theextension sleeve 24 in its adjusted position relative to the outersleeve 8. Vertical adjustment of the extension sleeve 24 allows thequantity of surcharge held within the sleeves 5 and 8 to bepredetermined thus predeterruining the capacity to be held in thehopper. A flexible circumferential dust seal 26 is secured to theunderside of a coned upper portion 27 of the hopper 3 in order toprovide a complete dust seal between the hopper mouth proper and theouter sleeve 8. A similar circumferential dust seal 28 is secured to anouter lower frustum portion 29 of the inner sleeve 5 so as to provide adust seal between the inner and outer sleeve 5 and 8. The dust seal 28rides freely up and down the outer sleeve 8 when vertical relativemovement of the inner and outer sleeves is taking place.

In operation of the dust-sealing mechanism, the extension sleeve 24 isadjusted to the desired height to give the required surcharge and themechanism is located with the wheels 16 on the track 15 adjacent themouth of the hopper 3. The hopper 3 is located under the outlet of thebunker 4 from which the hopper is to be filled and the rotatable ring 12is rotated relative to the inner and outer sleeves 5 and 8 to cause therollers 13 and 14 to cooperate with the cams 9 and 11 on the sleeves soas to move the inner sleeve 5 upwardly (see FIG. 4) until its sealingface 6 engages a cooperating face 31 on the underside of the bunkeroutlet valve while the outer ring 8 moves downwardly to project into thehopper inlet. The disposition of the cams 9 and 11 is such that theinner sleeve 5 almost reaches its upper seal position before the outersleeve 8 begins to lower into the hopper.

When the valve on the bunker 4 is actuated to cut off flow of thematerial into the hopper then the direction of rotation of the ring 12is reversed. The outer sleeve 8 is raised before the inner sleeve 5lowers thereby allowing the surcharge within the sleeve 5 and 8 todischarge into the hopper while the inner sleeve 5 is still sealedagainst the mouth of the bunker outlet. Finally the inner sleeve 5 islowered to its out of service position (see FIG. 3).

The above-described dust-sealing mechanism provides an arrangement whichis efficient, simple to operate and relatively inexpensive.

I claim:

1. A material transfer mechanism for use in association with areceptacle for dust containing material and comprising upper and lowersleeves, means interconnecting the two sleeves for effecting movement ofthe sleeves to an operative position by upward movement of the uppersleeve into sealing engagement with an outlet from which the material isto be fed to the receptacle and downward movement of the lower sleeveinto the receptacle whereby material can be fed through the sleeves intothe receptacle, and for effecting movement of the sleeve in reversedirection from their operative position in such a manner that the lowersleeve is moved upwardly before the upper sleeve is moved downwardlywhereby at least some of the material located in the sleeves aftercharging the receptacle flows into the receptacle before the uppersleeve moves downwardly, thereby preventing spillage.

2. A material transfer mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidmeans for effecting said movement of said sleeves comprises cam means onsaid sleeves, a rotary ring adjacent said sleeves, and a plurality ofrollers on said ring in engagement with said cam means whereby rotationof said ring effects said movement of the two sleeves.

3. A mechanism as claimed in claim 2, in which said cam means comprisesa'plurality of equispaced cams mounted on each sleeve with the cams ofone sleeve oppositely inclined to the cams on the other sleeve wherebythe sleeves can be moved in opposite directions.

4. A mechanism as claimed in claim 1, in which the sleeves areconstrained by pin-and-slot connections to move only vertically relativeto one another. I

5. A mechanism as claimed in claim 2, in which the ring is rotatablysupported on a track means of several wheels.

6. A mechanism as claimed in claim 3, in which the ring is rotatablysupported on a track by means of several wheels.

7. A mechanism as claimed in claim 5, in which the ring is rotatable bymeans of a worm meshing with a segment of a worm wheel secured to thering periphery.

sleeves is provided with an adjustable extension sleeve.

11. A mechanism as claimed in claim 9, comprising movable dust sealmeans between the pair of sleeves.

12. A mechanism as claimed in claim 10, comprising movable dust sealmeans between the pair of sleeves.

1. A material transfer mechanism for use in association with areceptacle for dust containing material and comprising upper and lowersleeves, means interconnecting the two sleeves for effecting movement ofthe sleeves to an operative position by upward movement of the uppersleeve into sealing engagement with an outlet from which the material isto be fed to the receptacle and downward movement of the lower sleeveinto the receptacle whereby materiaL can be fed through the sleeves intothe receptacle, and for effecting movement of the sleeve in reversedirection from their operative position in such a manner that the lowersleeve is moved upwardly before the upper sleeve is moved downwardlywhereby at least some of the material located in the sleeves aftercharging the receptacle flows into the receptacle before the uppersleeve moves downwardly, thereby preventing spillage.
 2. A materialtransfer mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means foreffecting said movement of said sleeves comprises cam means on saidsleeves, a rotary ring adjacent said sleeves, and a plurality of rollerson said ring in engagement with said cam means whereby rotation of saidring effects said movement of the two sleeves.
 3. A mechanism as claimedin claim 2, in which said cam means comprises a plurality of equispacedcams mounted on each sleeve with the cams of one sleeve oppositelyinclined to the cams on the other sleeve whereby the sleeves can bemoved in opposite directions.
 4. A mechanism as claimed in claim 1, inwhich the sleeves are constrained by pin-and-slot connections to moveonly vertically relative to one another.
 5. A mechanism as claimed inclaim 2, in which the ring is rotatably supported on a track means ofseveral wheels.
 6. A mechanism as claimed in claim 3, in which the ringis rotatably supported on a track by means of several wheels.
 7. Amechanism as claimed in claim 5, in which the ring is rotatable by meansof a worm meshing with a segment of a worm wheel secured to the ringperiphery.
 8. A mechanism as claimed in claim 6, in which the ring isrotatable by means of a worm meshing with a segment of a worm wheelsecured to the ring periphery.
 9. A mechanism as claimed in claim 7, inwhich one of the sleeves is provided with an adjustable extensionsleeve.
 10. A mechanism as claimed in claim 8, in which one of thesleeves is provided with an adjustable extension sleeve.
 11. A mechanismas claimed in claim 9, comprising movable dust seal means between thepair of sleeves.
 12. A mechanism as claimed in claim 10, comprisingmovable dust seal means between the pair of sleeves.